CF Medical Advisors

Professor Michael Konstan

Vice Dean for Translational Research, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland USA

Dr Konstan’s academic career has focused on the development of new therapeutics for the treatment and cure of CF lung disease, with special interest in anti-inflammatory therapies and clinical trial design. He has been the lead investigator on numerous international clinical trials that have led to the approval of new therapeutics for CF. Dr Konstan is the Vice Dean for Translational Research at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Austin Ricci Chair in Pediatric Pulmonary Care and Research at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. Dr. Konstan’s research has been funded by the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and companies focused on developing therapeutics for CF. He was a founding member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutic Development Network (CFF TDN), and he currently serves on the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Clinical Research Executive Committee and the Clinical Research Advisory Board.

Professor John Wilson

Professor Wilson is the head of Australia’s largest adult cystic fibrosis clinic and a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University. Professor Wilson has been involved in numerous cystic fibrosis clinical trials investigating new therapeutic drugs to improve the standard of care for CF patients. Professor Wilson has extensive experience in the implementation of Clinical Practice Guidelines to improve health service delivery at The Alfred. Professor Wilson is an author on a 2015 scientific publication on the use of follistatin to inhibit cystic fibrosis-like lung inflammation and pathology.

Professor Stick is a career clinician and clinical researcher and holds a National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellowship. Since 2005, he has been the Principal Investigator for the Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis (AREST CF). AREST CF has developed a unique early surveillance program that has focused attention on early manifestations of CF lung disease and has contributed to a paradigm shift from an approach based on amelioration of respiratory disease to one focused on prevention of bronchiectasis, the major cause of morbidity/mortality in CF. Professor Stick is also Principal Investigator for the world’s first clinical trial to prevent bronchiectasis in newborns diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (COMBAT CF).

Professor Sly is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, a paediatric respiratory physician and researcher at The University of Queensland with extensive research experience in respiratory physiology, developmental immunology and children's environmental health. Professor Sly’s research has contributed significantly to understanding the mechanisms underlying chronic childhood lung diseases and delaying or preventing their onset with consequent reductions in adult lung diseases. Professor Sly founded AREST CF and is currently a Principal Investigator for COMBAT CF. Professor Sly’s contributions to paediatric respiratory medicine and research were recognized in 2016 with the awarding of an Order of Australia (AO).